The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-09-13
DENIS.

NJ Marambot opened the letter bis servant
Denis brought him and smiled.
Denis. who had been in his employ for
twenty ysars-a little, jolly, thickset man,
who was constantly referred TO, through all
the country round, as the very model Of a
valet-queried:
aMonsieur is happy. Monsieur has re-
ceived some good newsp
! NJ Marambot was not rich. He was q
bachelor, and had been a village druggist for
many years He now lived quietly on the
small revenue made with great difficulty by
selling medicines to the country people. He
answered:
ayes, my boy. Old Malois does not want
to 60 into court; and tomorrow / will get
my money Five thousand francs will help
an old bachelor along pretty we'll"
: And NJ Marambot rubbed his hands to-
gether He was @ man Of q rather resigned
character, not particularly jovial, incapable
of anything like sustained effort, and quite
Indifferent about his own affairs.
: He might easily have made a better living
by taking advantage of the death Of certain
fellow druggists. who had stores well situated
in large centers, to take one of the vacant
businesses and so assure himself of lucrative
custom. But the trouble of moving, and the
/ thought of all the other things he would have
| to do, always prevented it; and after think.
/ ing over the matter for q day or two, he
would merely say:
GAhI bahl-next time I'll really think
about it One loses nothing by waiting,
anyhow. Perhaps I'll get a still better
chance"
Denis, on the contrary, was always urging
bis master 70 attempt something. Naturally
energetic, he would declare:
ooh! as for me, if just had the capital to
start with, would have made q fortune.
! Only ], 900 francs, and I'd make my way soon
enough"
| NJ. Marambot smiled without replying,
went out into his little garden, and walked
! up and down with his hands behind him, in q
reverie.
| Denis, all day long, sang ballads and coun-
J try songs, as if he were in an uncommonly
good humor. He even showed unusual
activity; for he cleaned all the windowpanes
in the house, singing at the top of his voice
while he wiped the glass
Astonished at his zeal, II. Marambot said
: to him several times, with smile:
@H you keep on working like that, my boy,
you will have nothing to do tomorrow"
Next morning, about O'Clock, the postman
handed Denis four letters for his master, one
of which was very heavy. M. Marambot at
once locked himself up in his room, and re-
manned there until late in the afternoon. He
then intrusted his servant with four letters
for the post. One of them was addressed to
NJ. Malois-it was no doubt an acknowledg-
ment of money received
Denis asked his master no questions; he
seemed TO be that day as melancholy and sui
len as he had been merry the evening before.
Night came. NJ Marambot went to bed at
his usual hour, and slept.
He was awakened by a singular noise He
sat up at once in his bed and listened. But
all at once his bedroom door opened, and
Denis appeared on the scene, holding a candle
in one hand and kitchen knife in the other;
his eyes wild and fixed; his lips compressed as
if under the influence of some terrible
emotion, and his face so pale that he looked
like a ghost.
u. MaraInbot, at first stricken dumb
with establishment, concluded that Denis was
walking in his sleep, and he got up to inter-
cept him, when Denis suddenly blew out the
light and made a rush for the bed. His mas
ter instinctiyely put out his hands to save
himself from the shock of the encounter,
which flung him upon his back, and then he
tried to seize the hands of the domestic, who
seemed to have become demented, and who
was striking at him with all his might.
The first blow of the knife struck him in
the shoulder; the second blow he received in
bis forehead, the third in his chest He
struggled frantically, putting out his hands
in the dark, and kicking out with his feet,
shouting:
"DenisI Denisl Are you madf Denis!
What are you doing, Denisl"
But Denis, painting with his efforts, still
kept striking, became more and more furious;
sometimes kick or blow would fling him
back, but he always rushed on again, wildly.
NJ. Marambot received two more wounds
one in the leg and one in the abdo-
men. But a sudden thought came to him,
and he screamed OUT
AStop, Denis! Stop! have not yet got my
money!"
The man at once stopped striking. H.
Marambot could hear him painting in the
dark.
NJ. Marambot spoke again:
II have not yet got cent NJ Malois has
gone back on his word; the case is going be-
fore the courts-that is why you took those
letters to the post. You had better read the
letters lying on my desk"
And with supreme effort he managed to
get hold of the matches on the table and TO
strike light.
He was covered with blood. Jets of it had
spattered the wall. The sheets, the bed cur
tains-everything was red. Denis, also bloody
from head to foot, was standing in the middle
Of the room
When he saw all this, NJ. Marambot thought
it was all over with him and became uncon-
scious
He came to himself again at daylight. It
took him some little time to collect his senses
to understandable remember. But suddenly
the recollection of the attempt and the sensa-
ton of his wounds came to him, and so in
tense fear took possession of him that he
shut his eyes so as not to see anything. At
the end Of a few minutes his terror calmed.
and be began to think. He had not died from
the blows; therefore he had some chance of